Chapter 387: Confess Everything

Chen Xiaolian acquired 10,000 points.

A full 10,000 points were gifted over through the system.

The one who gifted it was the man in black.

“That is the expenses for starting up the mine. It is very expensive to have the mine operate at full capacity. We are worried that you will not be able to pay for it on your own. Now, you will be able to operate it at full capacity. We will then purchase the produced Star Sand directly from you at the price that you had agreed with Mr Qiao earlier.

“You will need slightly more than 39,000 points for one year. Those points are an advanced payment. It is enough for three months of operation.

“As for the rest, we will give it to you later.

“However, I must remind you that we need at least 70 per cent of the produced Star Sand.”

Chen Xiaolian showed no objection to that.

Star Sand was a high-end material. At present, he was really unable to put it to good use. Thus, being able to keep 30 per cent of it was something that he was very satisfied with.

Moreover, he was able to get a great deal of points.

The man in black used the aircraft to send Chen Xiaolian back to Kombia so that he could re-enter the mine through the underground waterway.

Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild built the tracks in the underground waterway when they were the owner of the mine.

Thankfully, the system had a protective mechanism.

During this one-year occupation period, only those sanctioned by Chen Xiaolian can enter the mine. Others would not be able to even enter the waterway, much less make it pass the scanning entrance.

Chen Xiaolian was thus able to free himself from any concerns regarding the matter.

He returned into the mine alone. This time, he felt as though he had returned as a plutocrat.

After reaching the control centre for the mine, he showed no hesitation in starting up the entire mining site. All eight mines were started up and the androids for the mining operation of each mine were purchased.

A line of androids emerged out from a metal door located beside the colossal smelting furnace that was in the middle of the underground cave.

Seeing the shape of the androids, Chen Xiaolian grimaced.

Humanoid in shape, but they looked like octopuses. Each of them had eight arms and each of those arms was a Mechanical Arm. Those Mechanical Arms could transform into various tools, chisel, hammer, etc.

The 64 androids entered their respective mines and began working.

Chen Xiaolian stayed inside the mine for a while until the first batch of the ores was brought out.

The android would then utilize the hopper cars on the iron tracks to send the ores to the side of the central furnace. Through a conveyor belt, the ores would be moved into the furnace. On the other side of the furnace was a narrow opening. From the narrow opening, metallic sand flowed out…

Those were Star Sand.

Seeing that made Chen Xiaolian feel very satisfied.

The process was completely automatic and there was no need for Chen Xiaolian to do anything.

Judging by what he had seen, all he needed to do was to come over to take away the produced Star Sands.

Chen Xiaolian stayed within the mine for a whole day before leaving through the underground waterway.

In his Storage Watch was a bag of Star Sand, the yield of the day.

The man in black was waiting outside. Although he had been waiting for one whole day, there was no hint of dissatisfaction or impatience on his face. He had the same indifferent and patient look on his face.

“Were you not anxious?”

Chen Xiaolian jumped up the aircraft.

“It was within my expectations. Since this is your first time starting up the mine since obtaining it, you must surely feel very curious and stay inside for a long time.” After saying that, the man in black pulled out a bag from the back of the seat as though he was performing a magic trick and said, “You must be hungry, right? Eat some to fill your stomach.”

Chen Xiaolian was surprised. The man in black had actually pulled out a bag of Burger King.

As the aircraft took off, Chen Xiaolian sat as he munched on the hamburger. After he had his fill, he turned to the man in black and said, “Does Old Man Qiao not intend to meet me and discuss this?”

“He did contact me today. The later parts of this matter will be assigned to me.” The man in black looked outside the aircraft and said, flatly. “I will be contacting you again a few months later. I will send you the points you need to operate the mine then as well. Likewise, you must remember to leave behind 70 per cent of the yield for me. I will purchase it using the agreed upon price. That is the first thing…”

After pausing, he slowly said, “Secondly, you will need the authorization to enter and exit Zero City. In the next few days, I will be contacting you and give you the item needed for the authorization. However, remember this… you must take proper care of the authorization device to enter and exit Zero City. If you lose it or if it gets damaged, there will be no issuing a second one for you. It’s your personal responsibility to keep it intact!”

After listening to that, Chen Xiaolian nodded and asked, “What about Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo?”

“About that, Mr Qiao wants me to inform you that they will soon be returning home. Soon.”

“Soon?” Chen Xiaolian was rather unsatisfied. “What do you mean by soon? One or two days or one or two months?”

The man in black turned to look at Chen Xiaolian and he said in a very cold tone, “I do not know nor do I have any way of answering you. However, I have a suggestion… don’t force it. At present, you have the upperhand because you have a mine in your hands. Additionally, Mr Qiao had already promised you. If not for that… these words might not sound pleasant. However, you need to understand. For Mr Qiao to be doing this is already a huge concession on his part. No matter what, he is still the two girls’ father!”

Oh well, soon it is then.

Chen Xiaolian fell into a state of silence.

The man in black tossed over a unique looking item. Appearance wise, it appeared like a mobile phone.

“That is a satellite phone. I will be spending at least a day away from Zero City each week. You can use that to contact me. For the supplies and equipment that Mr Qiao had promised you, make a list and then contact me.”

After having said that, the man in black appeared to have lost all interest in talking to Chen Xiaolian. He simply laid back, closed his eyes and took a nap.

The aircraft flew back to Cairo, Egypt. After getting off the aircraft, Chen Xiaolian bade farewell to the man in black.

The man in black had already bought a ticket for Chen Xiaolian and he could directly fly back home.

Naturally, Chen Xiaolian had no interest in playing around in Egypt. After waiting a few hours in the airport, the boarded the airplane to head back home.

Before boarding the airplane though, Chen Xiaolian received a strange phone call.

The number was unfamiliar to him. Additionally, after accepting the call, he noted that the caller had an electronically synthesized voice.

“Mr Chen Xiaolian. Someone requested me to pass a message to you.”

Chen Xiaolian frowned and asked, “Who are you?”

“The one who put up this request is a lady named Qiao Qiao.”

Chen Xiaolian instantly straightened his body and he spoke in a quivering tone, “Say it!”

“She wanted me to tell you that she is now in Zero City and is temporarily safe. At the same time, she also wants you to know that she will not give up and will persevere to the end. She wants you to do the right thing. Mm, that’s more or less how it is.”

Chen Xiaolian listened to those words carefully before releasing a deep breath and ask, “Just who are you?”

“Someone who accepted the request for the sake of a reward.”

After saying that, the other party ended the call.

Chen Xiaolian whose hand was still holding onto the mobile phone was frozen on the spot.

…

Nicole kept her sound modifier. At the same time, she tossed the mobile phone in her hand down the river beside her.

…

Around 10 hours later, the roaring airplane began its descent.

When the airplane’s landing gears touched down, the airplane shuddered lightly a few times and it glided forward on the surface of the airport runway.

Chen Xiaolian who was partially lying down slowly straightened his body and looked at the airport runway outside the window.

He had already used the guild channel to make contact with those at home. Roddy informed him that everything was all right back at home. Both Lun Tai and Bei Tai had also returned from their trip. After considering it, Chen Xiaolian told Roddy to inform every guild member to gather at the fitness centre.

Chen Xiaolian finally reached Nanjing at night. By the time he reached the fitness centre, it was already midnight.

The guild members of his guild, Roddy, Xia Xiaolei, Lun Tai and BeiTai and even their newest addition, Qimu Xi were all waiting inside the fitness centre.

When Chen Xiaolian pushed open the door and made his way in, he noted that there were serious expressions on everyone’s faces. It was as though they could sense that Chen Xiaolian was about to discuss something important with them after returning from overseas.

Chen Xiaolian looked around and observed that Da Gang was not around. He turned to look at Roddy.

Roddy smiled and said, “When I got your message, I knew this is going to be an inner circle meeting. So, I had Da Gang go to your house and sleep there. At the same time, he could also keep our Mongolian friend company.”

“What about Yu Jiajia?” Chen Xiaolian inquired.

“I knocked her unconscious and left her at the lounge at the back.” Roddy shrugged without showing any sense of guilt. “You are the one who said not to leave her out of my sight.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and said, “Then, let’s move out.”

“… move out?”

Lun Tai and Bei Tai showed expressions of surprise and they asked, “Where to?”

Chen Xiaolian did not directly reply them. Instead, he said, “Roddy, is the car ready?”

“It’s downstairs. As you requested, it’s a seven-seater MPV, enough to fit every one of us.”

“Then let’s head out.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned around and walked out of the door.

Although Lun Tai and the rest had a belly full of questions, they understood that this was not the time for questions. They silently followed Chen Xiaolian out.

After reaching the parking lot downstairs, Chen Xiaolian retrieved the car keys from Roddy and got into the driver position.

All of them went into the MPV; even the unconscious Yu Jiajia was carried down and tossed into the MPV by Roddy.

Chen Xiaolian then started the MPV and it slowly moved away from the fitness centre building.

It was presently the middle of the night. After driving the car for close to an hour, they reached one of the suburb areas that was far away from the city.

Their MPV kept moving forward and the road became more remote. The scenery on both sides began showing more wilderness. When they turned into a narrow asphalt road, they saw that there weren’t even any lights on both sides of the road.

After reaching their destination, Chen Xiaolian stopped the MPV.

“Everyone, get down.”

…

It was a stretch of wilderness.

They looked forward in the darkness of the light and saw that the only source of light was dim and far away.

“That place is a village,” said Chen Xiaolian with a smile. “However, no one will come here at night.”

He then pointed forward and said, “From now on, this place will be our base of operations.”

With the exception of Roddy and Qimu Xi, the others were shocked.

What Chen Xiaolian was pointing at was a lake.

…

The name of the lake was ‘Yinxing Lake’. It was originally a retention basin and has quite the large area. It was roughly several thousand mu and there was underground water inside the lake. (1 square metre = 0.0015 mu.)

In the middle of a lake was a rather small island.

Chen Xiaolian then pulled out a hovercraft that he had prepared earlier from his Storage Watch. After fixing the motor, he brought everyone across the lake and onto the small island in the centre.

There on the island… were ruins.

Or more accurately, those were dilapidated buildings.

Mottled concrete wall where red coloured bricks could be seen in most places. Many of the rooms did not even have a roof on top of them.

There was a three-storey building, two two-storey buildings, an open area in the centre and a few other small buildings in its surroundings.

“Originally, a development group had wanted to build a resort here. Later on however, they ran into cash flow problems and this resort had to be discontinued. It had since been left to rot and no one will care about this place for the time being.

“I’ve already inquired about it. The developer is now involved in a very convoluted lawsuit filled with various debts and disputes. In order to figure out the details, even more lawsuits are needed. In the end, who knows how many years it will take. Thus, this place can be considered an abandoned wasteland.

“The lake originally had fishes in it so the farmers around this place would take up contracts for the lake area to use as fish rearing spots. However, since the developer came here, the quality of the lake water declined and it could no longer be used to rear fishes. Since that is the case, even farmers would rarely venture here.

“After looking through all the surrounding areas, this is the most suitable spot that I could find.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian looked at everyone else and continued, “I had gathered everyone here tonight because there is something that I need to frankly inform everyone."

Roddy gave a silent sigh before quietly glancing at Lun Tai, Bei Tai and Xia Xiaolei who were standing beside him.

Chen Xiaolian walked to the door of the main building at the end of central square.

In the darkness of the night, no one could see what he was tinkering with there.

Soon, Chen Xiaolian turned around and pointed at the door to the main building beside him.

“It’s done. Let’s go in.”

After saying that, he pulled open the door.

Lun Tai and Bei Tai sucked in a cold breath in unison! As for Xia Xiaolei, his eyes widened!

They saw…

A… metal room! The small metal room seemed like an elevator!

“All right, this is our ‘base’!”

Chen Xiaolian was the first to walk through the door. The second was Roddy while Lun Tai and the others followed suit. Qimu Xi was the last to enter, but she showed no signs of surprise. At any rate, this was not the first time she had entered the base.

…

Everything in the base surprised Lun Tai and Bei Tai. As for Xia Xiaolei, he touched every nook of the wall, seemingly wanting to pull out each wall to inspect it.

The circular metal orb in the centre of the room also exuded an odd yet shocking aura.

The training room, smelting room, weapons and equipment room… all of the rooms created a wondrous feeling.

“Everyone, come and sit down. I’ll begin.”

Chen Xiaolian sighed and gathered everyone.

Lun Tai and Bei Tai cast tangled expressions at Chen Xiaolian.

“First of all, I have to apologize to everyone here. Mm, mainly to Xia Xiaolei, Lun Tai and Bei Tai… oh, and also Qimu Xi. Although you are the latest addition to our guild, you are still one of us now.

“Lun Tai, Bei Tai, you two must be very curious about where Qimu Xi had come from and how she ended up joining our guild, right?

“In order to know about that, you will need to listen to my story slowly…”

As he spoke, he cast a glance at Roddy who had an complex expression in his eyes.

Chen Xiaolian made up his mind.

Exhaling, he looked at Lun Tai and Bei Tai.

“Truth be told, I am not an Awakened. Me, Roddy, Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo… we are not Awakened ones.”

Hearing that, Lun Tai and Bei Tai’s heads bounced up!

“What did you say?” exclaimed Lun Tai.

There was the tangled look on Bei Tai’s face as he asked, “You… could it be, you are all… Players?”

Chen Xiaolian looked into Bei Tai’s eyes and slowly shook his head. “No. We… are not Players either. It would be more accurate to say that we are existences outside of what you term Awakened ones and Players. A third kind of existence; we have come to call ourselves Irregularities.”

Xia Xiaolei who was seated beside released a light sigh. Although he had known about this earlier compared to Lun Tai and Bei Tai, he was unable to stop his heart from feeling tangled and anxious.

“In order to explain this whole thing, I will need to start from the time I first got sucked into an instance dungeon…”